Even if the rookie has been up and down through his first 17 NBA games, that part of Knox's game will come naturally.

Fizdale wants to see the little things.

Rebounding, diving for loose balls, challenging shots at the rim. That's what the Knicks coach is trying to draw out of Knox more consistently. He wants the 19-year-old to be aggressive.

Knox's performance in the Knicks' 136-134 overtime win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night provided some encouraging signs for Fizdale.

Sure, Knox scored a career-high 26 points and drained five three-pointers. It was Knox's first double-figure performance in five games.

But more stood out to Fizdale.

At one point in the second quarter, Knox dove on the floor to corral a loose ball away from Donte DiVincenzo.

"He really laid out, he was the furthest guy from the ball, and for him to do that without thinking, that means something’s starting to click in there," Fizdale said. "Now it’s just putting it together consistently day after day.”

Those are the types of plays Fizdale wants to see more of.

Knox's "motor" has been criticized since before the Draft. He said last week he's working on maintaining a high level of intensity throughout every game.

Making more plays like the ones he did Saturday night will go a long way toward accomplishing that.

In addition to his 26 points, Knox also finished with four rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block.

Knox, who scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, started in overtime.

"Yeah, Fiz is always going to have confidence in me," Knox said. "He talked to me about that the other day. He just wanted me to keep playing, keep attacking, have energy on the court and it’ll come. Just shows how much confidence he has in me to keep me out there the whole game. I came out in the second half, that’s a lot of confidence in my coach and my coaching staff to keep me learning and be in that environment."

Continuing to play at a high level consistently will be part of Knox's development.

Knox took a step forward in that process on Saturday.

"I’m just getting on him about the winning stuff, the in between stuff, that’ll really get the respect of everybody," Fizdale said.